Final day season win propels boys’ lacrosse to districts

END OF A GREAT RUN: The Wachusett boys’ lacrosse team ended its playoff run with a loss to Saint John’s on Sunday. Sam Nader (18) pushes a Saint John’s opponent out of bounds to force a turnover in the second quarter.
Scott Wahlstrom photo It took three consecutive season-ending wins to qualify for district playoff competition but when the dust settled, the WRHS boys’ varsity lacrosse team made it once more, sliding in as the No.11 Central Mass. seed thanks to some gritty team effort all around.

The Mountaineers were victorious in all three contests but none was more trying than the final matchup against Nashoba that went down to the wire but ended with a clutch win. The team record had been 7-10 and needed to reach the .500 mark to qualify, and did so by beating the Chieftains on the last day of the season.

“That victory against Nashoba was one of the greatest games in my high school career,” said senior co-captain and goalie Greg Wong, who will attend Wesleyan University in the fall. “We really had to find it within ourselves and since we had lost to them earlier in the season, we knew it would be tough. But when it came down to it, we did what we had to do to make the playoffs.”

The season finale earned Wachusett a trip to Mendon for an opening round matchup with the No. 6 seeded Nipmuc Warriors on June 2. The team carried more magic with them on that bus ride and prevailed with a 13-7 win. The Mountaineers took advantage of several scoring opportunities and delivered key goals with Connor Doherty cashing in on three goals and an assist, Steve Iacaboni registering a pair of goals and assists and Tim Scott recording two goals and three assists.

The Mountaineers moved on to face a powerful third-seeded St. John’s team on the road last Sunday. Having beaten the Pioneers earlier in the season, there was plenty of optimism entering the contest, but St. John’s captured the 15-6 victory despite three goals from Mountaineer co-captain Alex Turgeon.

“At the end of the season, it was pretty emotional for all of us, especially the departing seniors,” said head coach Phil Jackson, whose teams have qualified for playoff competition many times under his watch, including a trip to the semifinals a year ago. “The kids played well and left everything they had out on the field. This was a pretty competitive team and I expect we will be again next year, despite losing a lot of guys in key positions.”

The team will lose key players such as Wong, Iacaboni, Doherty, Scott, Cam Hanify, Matt Bernard, Shane Dowd and others but there are promising juniors expected to return in 2012 including Turgeon, Dan Wisniewski, Eric Iacaboni, Steve Rondinone and more.

A number of key honors went to Mountaineer players. Wong was named Academic All-American and Mid-Wach A and a first team All Star along with Steve Iacaboni. Doherty, Scott and Dowd were named second-team Mid-Wach A All Stars and Eric Iacaboni and Turgeon received recognition as honorable mention.

Steve Iacaboni, Wachusett’s alltime leading point scorer in ice hockey, accomplished the same feat in lacrosse, setting school records in assists and total points scored.